Woman jailed for allowing her bank accounts to receive money from scammers

SINGAPORE - She befriended two men online and entered into an arrangement with them for two of her bank accounts to receive cash, even though she had never met the pair.

The bank accounts later received more than $250,000 in cash.

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) told Leng Ai Heong that the men, known only as Paul and Francis, were conmen and the money transferred to one of the accounts was proceeds from scams.

The officers told her to stop dealing with funds from unknown sources, but she ignored their advice.

Instead, she went on to allow another three of her accounts to receive more than $124,000 from four scam victims.

Leng, 56, who earned around $4,600 from her offence, was sentenced to nine months’ jail on Thursday after she pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in the benefits of criminal conduct.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Foong Ke Hui said Leng befriended Paul over the Internet in 2020.

In 2021, he introduced her to Francis and claimed that Francis was a cryptocurrency trader.

Paul claimed he earned a 5 per cent commission by helping Francis to receive money, and used the cash to buy cryptocurrency.

Paul offered to share the commission with Leng, who agreed to receive and withdraw money with her DBS and POSB accounts.

The bank accounts later received more than $250,000. Both the accounts were frozen in 2021.

CAD officers, who interviewed Leng on Sept 2, 2021, told her to stop dealing with funds from dubious sources.

She ignored the advice and used a Maybank account to receive and withdraw money five days later. From Sept 13, 2021, she used a UOB account for similar transactions.

CAD ordered the Maybank and UOB accounts to be frozen in November 2021.

Leng then opened an account with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) on Dec 23, 2021, and the authorities recorded a statement from her four days later.

DPP Foong said a second advisory was issued to Leng that day, informing her that Paul and Francis were scammers and that the money transferred to the UOB account was proceeds from their scams.

The DPP said Leng ignored the advisory and used the SCB account to receive and withdraw money on behalf of the two men.

That account was frozen on March 22, 2022.

Between Sept 7, 2021, and Jan 31, 2022, Leng used the Maybank, UOB and SCB accounts to receive more than $124,000 from four scam victims.

They were victims of various scams, including Internet love scams, parcel scams, inheritance scams and lucky draw scams.

They had also transferred money to one or more of Leng’s bank accounts.

So far, only $18,500 transferred by one of the victims to the UOB account has been recovered.

For dealing in the benefits of criminal conduct, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $500,000.